Castles, Czechs, Clocks and Chiwawas- part two

We’d arrived in Prague as planned on Saturday, intending to stay until Tuesday, when we were scheduled to fly out for 8 days in Ireland. But, as large clouds of volcanic ash spewed into the sky, and no dragons appeared to taxi us there, our dream of horse riding in Ireland began to fade.

As the days ticked on, our hostel, the Czech Inn, became more like the Hotel California- you can czech out any time you like, but you can never leave.

As Eyjafjallajokull persisted in erupting, it became clear I would be forced to eat smug comments made to my work colleagues back home about drinking Guinness in its homeland while they were at work. There was just no way to get to Ireland.

There are worse places than Prague to be stranded (such as bus shelters, and Dandenong) and accordingly Aimee and I struggled to make a route recalculation. (I’m not sure if this was as a result of the disappointment of missing our four day horse ride or the ‘day after’ effects of Prague’s heavily under-priced beer.)

Still, the longer we stay in Prague, the more the place is coming to life. This is helped by the posse we have been gathering during our extended stay. Members include Sebastian, who

Super Troopers

although a bit of a looker is, something of an embarrassment to the German race, having been solidly beaten by this wee Aussie lass in a beer sculling contest; his German born Indian ‘slave’, the giggling Bens; Aussie Aussie Matt (laundromat not needed, has washboard abs); and a couple of US Super Troopers, Ryan and Joel, on leave from serving in Kuwait.

The Prague Posse- Sebastian, Bens & Aussie Aussie Matt

Something not many will know- Joel was a body double for the errant brother-in-law in the Vegas based movie, ‘The Hangover’.

Joel recreates a scene from The Hangover

With our posse, we visited many of Prague’s finest…umm.. bars, including the Australian pub, named Fat Boys (no relation to the Fortitude Valley institution).

And of course, like all tourists, we visited Europe’s number-one-overrated Old Town Clock. Hordes gather daily at this clock between 9am and sunset to photograph this medieval wonder.

Europe's #1 overrated Old Town Clock

Aimee and I took some pride in being quite photographed ourselves, as we maneuvered our way into many other people’s shots. Notably, after one couple repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to get a photo of the Old Town Clock without us smiling on the back ground, they eventually came over and asked us straight out to move. (In our defence they were doing some VERY cheesy poses). Yep, it’s confirmed. We are as funny as watching a well dressed man step on a chiwawa poo.*

Communications Tower....crawling with babies...

We also visited Prague’s massive communications tower. Built by the communists, it was a means of intercepting all in-coming and outgoing messages. After the ‘withdrawal’ of the communists, the Czechs made some additions- in the form of giant metal babies with barcodes for faces.

Barcode Babies

On the downside of our extended stay in Prague, despite 30 years of being a staunch anti-smoker, I’m now addicted. I’ve passively smoked around 300 cartons in the 6 days we’ve been here, due to the extremely relaxed smoking laws, which makes dining smoke free a mission impossible. Aimee is using the last of our money to buy me nicotine patches.

Despite the good times, eventually a decision about where to go next just had to be made. On a whim, we decided to head to Munich, Germany.

We vowed to be home early the night before our departure, but our posse had some trouble telling the time at the Old Town clock, and we flopped into our beds at the Czech Inn for the last time, at 4.30am. But that was ok, we didn’t need to be up for our bus until 5.30am.

That’s all for now folks. See you in Munich.

Tina

*This is a WHOLE lot funnier than you might immediately give it credit for!

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About The Tina Sparkles Experience

Welcome- these are travel and dating stories with a difference- there is no doubt Tina Sparkles has the ability to find the humour in any situation. Every blog is guaranteed to be a laugh- hope you enjoy!